I'm Here
by Ickleamykins
Summary: Ron has been going through a tough time lately. Will things turn better for him?


Things started out fine. There was no drinking, fighting, or even the loss of temper. But boy have things changed.  
  
It all started in the beginning of May. Lord Voldermort was at large and with the help of his Death Eaters he was attacking more and more people. One quiet morning, when Molly Weasley was fast asleep, and no one else was in the Burrow, Lord Voldermort and his gang broke into the Burrow and instantly murdered her.  
  
Of course the rest of the Weasleys' took the news hard, but Ron was the one who took it the hardest. Ron would lock himself up in his Hogsmeade flat for days without letting anyone see him; not even his brothers or sister. However, this was only the beginning. Next came the drinking. He would indulge himself in beer after beer, not stopping for anything or anyone. To say the least, he was an alcoholic.  
  
This is where I come in. I hadn't seen Ron since we graduated from Hogwarts a couple years ago. I had gone back to Ireland to work at my parent's shop and hadn't really heard from any of my friends from Hogwarts. It wasn't until Ginny, Ron's sister owled me explaining the situation Ron was in.  
  
Why weren't Harry and Hermione there for him, you may be wondering. Well, I was too. The thing was that firstly Harry and Ron were drifting apart each day. There was no reason for it but I suppose that's what happens to the lot of them. And then there was Hermione. Well basically, she disappeared. No one knew where she was. She's showed up now and then, but all the same, she hasn't been there.  
  
So, I flew to England to see Ron. I was extremely nervous to see him again, especially in his state. And this is where I am, standing in front of his flat with my finger rested on the doorbell, but not hard enough to make it ring.  
  
I stood there for a moment deciding whether or not to ring the bell. Finally I decided I should, after all it was Ron we're talking about. True, we weren't the best of friends, but we were pretty close and I'd help him out in a second, and he'd do the same to me-hopefully.  
  
I rang the doorbell without any success however.  
  
"Ron? Ron? Are you in there, mate?" I called out. But with no luck I pulled out my wand and quietly used the alohamora spell to open the door up. Any witch or wizard would know to use a protecting charm on the door so a simple 'alohamora' couldn't open up the door, but then again, it was Ron.  
  
Anyways, I walked quietly through the house peeking around the corners, seeing if he was there, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Figuring from Ginny's owl, I decided Ron would most likely be indulging him self at the local pub, The Three Broomsticks.  
  
So I trotted off to The Three Broomsticks praying to God that I would find Ron there. And sure enough, as I stepped into the dingy pub, he was in the corner drunk as hell. It was awful- his hair was in a riff raff- pieces sticking every which way like he hadn't washed or brushed it in days. Then there was the state of his clothes. His shirt looked like he had it for several years[which he probably did] as it was too small for him. His pants were too big and hand many holes in it.  
  
He had four empty beer bottles surrounding him and one half full which he had clenched in his hand. The way he was acting boggled my mind. I've never seen Ron like this before. Ron was always the strong, stubborn one who didn't take no for answer. Now he was crying in that little corner of the pub. It was heart-wrenching.  
  
I slowly and unsurely walked up to the nineteen year old scared out of my wits. I approached him with caution, just in case he turned around and slapped me or something like that.  
  
"Ron?"  
  
He turned around and squinted his eyes starting at me for a couple minutes. He finally spoke up, "S-seamus? What a-are you d-doing h-here?"  
  
He immediately flung his arms around me and dug his face into my shoulder, sobbing like a mad man. I didn't really know what to do. I just stood there quietly patting his back.  
  
After awhile of persuading, I finally got him to go back to his flat. Of course I wasn't going to leave him there by himself; I stayed with him.  
  
"Seamus. I just can't do this anymore," He cried. "I just can't let go of her." He was talking about his mum. They had been so close to each other and Ron was having the roughest time of it all.  
  
"Life's not about hanging onto someone because you love them, Ron. Sometimes when you love them, you have to let them go. What I'm trying to say is that you can't keep doing this to yourself Ron. I'm not say that you need to forget your mum completely but you know I don't reckon she's happy at you for doing this to yourself, Ron. She loves you too much and doesn't want you to get hurt."  
  
However my words didn't help him much. He continued to drink nearly every night. Everyone tried to help, but it was no use. Nothing was getting through Ron's skull; nothing. There was a time when Harry even got into a fight with a drunken Ron. Of course, Harry was only trying to help Ron but he just made it worse. Ron was drifting away from everyone.  
  
It wasn't until I found him one night that everything changed. I had just gone to visit Ginny and when I got home I decided to check on Ron to make sure everything was okay, but it wasn't. I found him in his room with his wand to his chest muttering to himself insanely. I was a bit shocked to find Ron there in that position, but I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later.  
  
When I finally came to realization at what he was doing, I dived towards him, reaching for his wand. I succeed at doing so. Ron nearly killed me however. He went full force at punching and kicking me, but to tell you the truth, he's weak. I saved his life and what does he do to repay me, beat me up. Oh well, I guess this is life.  
  
It's been a year now since I found Ron that night. We got him help; he went to counselling and gradually stopped drinking. He has let go of his mum. Don't get me wrong, he still loves and things about her but not as often. He has also become closer to his family. He now lives closer to his sister, Ginny and his twin brothers, Fred and George. 


End file.
